Nothing Short of a Fatal Mismatch

A Cessna 140 proved to be a goose among swans in a flock of dedicated STOL.

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 at 08:59 AM ET

Verified

The NTSB blamed a STOL Drag accident in 2022 on the pilot's obvious 'exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack.' [Leonardo Correa Luna]

Key Takeaways:

An impromptu STOL landing contest at Wayne Municipal Airport resulted in a fatal low-altitude stall-spin accident involving a Cessna 140.
The accident was primarily caused by the pilot exceeding the aircraft's critical angle of attack due to flying too slowly, critically compounded by the inadvertent failure to deploy flaps.
The competitive environment and the pilot's decision to maintain spacing behind a more capable aircraft, rather than executing a go-around, were cited as contributing factors.

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In May 2022, a STOL Drag event took place at Wayne Municipal Airport/Stan Morris Field, (KLCG) in Nebraska. Training for novices would begin on Thursday and continue into Friday. Qualifying heats would be on Friday afternoon, and the races would continue through the weekend.

The contest, which typically occurs on grass or dirt areas parallel to paved runways, was to take place alongside Runway 5-23.

Peter Garrison

Peter Garrison taught himself to use a slide rule and tin snips, built an airplane in his backyard, and flew it to Japan. He began contributing to FLYING in 1968, and he continues to share his columns, ""Technicalities"" and ""Aftermath,"" with FLYING readers.